The National tribune., 1887-12-29

the proposed movement OF Dhe army, ana Was
willing to take some extra risks to obtain Off
cial information.
There was scarcely day passed that did
not continue my walks down Main street to
the Libby prisons; indeed, / became quite well
acquainted with couple of the guards about
/ there, and my visits were ostensibly made to
them. while / really went to see the Union sol
diers imprisoned there. 1t was through my
newly-formed friendship with the guards at
1 Libby that l made also the acquaintance
/ Of some people on the hill-ShOCkoe Hill,
think they call it. In this family, or rather IN
the neighborhood in which the guard lived,
were some very handsome ladies. who bad
made themselves agreeable to our rebel friends,
! the guards OF course the ladies were enthu-
siastic admirers of the gray uniforms worn by
/ the boys, and were especially attracted hy the
cut of the clothes worn by the officers.
As 1 did not have uniform, presume was
! not at first as much III favor with these ladies
as were my friends of the rebel guard. As this
/ acquaintance came SO nearly exposing my whole
campaign. will mention it briAy here, as its
results will be seen furtheron in this narrative.
In Richmond in 1861 all the stores seemed to
] be doing good business and IN a general way
everything went along in an ordinary way.
About the hotels there were unusual crowds OF
people for Richmond, and but few wore the
Confederate uniform.
On Sundays / usually strolled to Hollywood
( IN the afternoon, after seeing
MR. DAVIS AND HIS FAMILY
to st. PauTs Church in the morning At the
/ time Of which / write Gen. Lee was not IN
Richmond he was then at some place in West
/ Virginia.
The big men of the Confederacy at that time
/ were Beauregard and Joe Johnston, and 1t was
! a serious question, which was constantly being
/ discussed by the friends of both, which of these
two was the "better mare" With Confeder-
ates from the extreme South Beauregard was
the fayorite, while with the Virginia YAM
/ KEGS las the extreme Southern people termed
/ the Yirginians because they demanded pay for
goods sold to the army Joe Johnston was the
4 ideal soldier
Some day a secret history of the inside work
ings of the Confederate Government will show
the world that on their side there was fully as
many bitter chickering's, jealousies and intrigues
as existed at any time among the Generals of
4 the long-sufering but noble and gallant
4 Army of the Potomac"
1t was evident from the increased activity
about the Offices of the War Department that
something was up. Since had heard of this
proposed advance l was giving the Departments
/ considerable attention, and rarely missed an
/ opportunity TO see, as far as l could from the
outside, what was going on inside.
From my bench under the trees in the park
I could see that the Office was being besieged
1 almost constantly by crowds of people, mostly
members of their Congress. They went in
groups of two TO four at time. Sometimes a
/ Congressman would be accom- panied by an officer
I in gray uniform As they passed me their
conversation seemed to be animated; in short,
/ there general feeling with everybody
thaesomething important was pending.
/ could not learn much at the telegraph
Office and had about abandoned the attempt in
that direction, until l struck plan that was a
/ little risky, but under the circumstances felt
justifabe in undertaking almost anything.
Noticing a messenger leaving the War De-
partment followed him at respectful dis
tance. He went straight to the telegraph office.
So did /. / entered the door Just moment
after he did, and was carelessly cdging towards
the delivery clerk to put my stereotyped inter
rogation to him, when he said to the mes
senger:
Shall we send the dispatches from the Pres
ident to Mrs. Davis to her house tonight"
There won't be any; he is expected back
tonight"
JEFF Davis was at Manassas, then. I felt
really as if had been derelict in my duty in
thus permitting the President TO 90 out Of town
without my knowledge and consent.
But he was coming back-that was comfort
ing to me- felt sure now that the rumors of
an advance had been confirmed. / knew
something was IN contemplation, and / could
not leave Richmond at that time, certainly not
until / had asceTtained what it was that they
proposed doing, and when it was to be done.
/ went straight to my room, wrote short
dispatch-a rather crude one-the translation
of which was that JEFF Davis had been to
Manassas, and something was up" and before
/ slept il was in Col. J. y. Jones's postoffiee.
While felt that my dispatch" would ulti-
mately 60 through to Washington all right,
was yet quite uneasy about this talked-of adj
vance Of the rebels into Maryland; fearful that
il might take place at once, or before my infor-
nation could reach the North This fear kept
me awake long after l had gotten into bed
broOdng over the dangers OF a rebel invasion
into Maryland and the humiliation that would
attach 70 the capture or fight of President
Lincoln and his officers from Washington, and
again resolved to myself that l would stand
by JEFF Davis" and that, for one, he should not
90 to Washington.
1t did not occur to my mind at that time
that Mcclellan had organized large army
! in front of Washington, which was fully able
/ 70 defend the Capital against any force the
rebels could bring against it, 1t must be re
membered that ] had been away from homo
nov since July, during which time had heard
only OF the Union army through rebel sources
aud OF course everything favorable had beer
suppressed, while all the weakness Of our forces
had been greatly exaggerated.
! had heard so much Of this sort Of talk dur
ing those three months that had perhaps comi
+, 70 believe in great deal Of it.
Every recruit has suffered from the /" chin
a 4 OF Old veterans about a campfire, VINO Away
knew more Of the proposed movements of thi
Generals than they did themselves. So it wa
: that i was compelled to listen to the wild tall
! Of the enthusiastic refugees, the Colonel ant
Elkton, after they came into the room tha
. night. 1t was late; they had been haVin
4 some fun, and were feeling greatly exhilarate
f over the street rumors Of the proposed invasion
4 OF Maryland. / do not mean to insnuate tha
B they were tipsy, just because the Colonel
GOT INTO BED WITHOUT TAKING HIS cLoTHE
: OFF,
for he was able to talk plainly and volubl
It until he fell asleep from exhaustion.
a TIE talk OF those two fellows that nigh
n about the dreadful things that were going
f happen soon had about set me wild, and / fel
1 as If ] ought TO get out Of bed and walk righ
j straight up to Washington before daylight an
e tell Uncle Abe" all about it. But ] &c
rs asleep and dreamed perhaps as wildly as / ha
' been planning.
There was one pQ;=s settled, and that wa
s. that it was Is3y Jest plan to stay in Rchmon,
= at laa5C until something sure was discoVere
r about the rebel plans. Another was that if keI
It up my friendship with these two lively ol
Is boys who were taking care OF me- could rnol
a easily get fuller and more satisfactory informi
Or ton; and that IL / obliged, in order to pr
A. long my stay in Richmond safely, j would
in with them into the Maryland artillery, an
al thus safely reach our army under cover of
IS gray uniform, as it was understood that the
at Maryland battery was to go TO the front
once.
be was willing 20 do anything that was nece
so sary for the good of the Government, but
a wanted very much TO avoid, as long SIS w
I'D possible the seeming necessity for Joining tl